It is anybody’s guess as to when we will see our professional basketball team again, as it has been reported that the NBA season may not start until after the calendar turns to 2021.
The Cavaliers are currently getting some work in at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, as part of the program for teams that were not invited to the “bubble” in Orlando.
So, coach J.B. Bickerstaff gets his first look at his team in six months, although Andre Drummond and free agent to be Tristan Thompson are not taking part in the workouts.
Bickerstaff does get his first look, on the court at least, of rookie first round pick Dylan Windler, who missed the entire 2019-20 season with a stress fracture in the leg, and subsequent surgery to repair it.
The next big order of business for the franchise is the draft, which will be held on November 18th, with the free agency period apparently to follow, although that is not confirmed.
The Cavaliers have the fifth overall pick, and GM Koby Altman has said the wine and gold will take the best player available at that spot, even if it is a guard.
Don’t believe that for a second. It is pure rhetoric unless the roster is overhauled before the draft occurs.
The Cavaliers have drafted guards in the top ten of the draft the last two years, and both are primarily point guards. With only five players on the floor at one time, you cannot have this kind of duplicity on the roster.
In addition to Collin Sexton (2018 first rounder) and Darius Garland (’19), Altman also used the last pick of the first round, which he traded for, to take yet another guard, and Kevin Porter Jr. showed signs he can be a starter in the Association long term.
So, while saying you are going to take the best player available, which is typical GM-speak going into a draft, you don’t want your organizational leader saying “we really don’t need this position, so we are going to reach to take a lesser player”, if the Cavaliers take another guard at five, it would be a colossal error.
It has been reported that Altman doesn’t want to move either Sexton, who looked much better after Bickerstaff took over as head coach, or Porter, who averaged 12 points per game after December 1st, and is the bigger guard the team needs.
That would leave the organization open to moving Garland, although they would be selling low on the second year guard, but could package him and the fifth pick this year to get a young, veteran, and yes, taller player.
Remember, the Cavs were the smallest team in the NBA a year ago, and even though they made the deal for Drummond, they lost another tall player in Ante Zizic, and Thompson could be gone by the time training camp opens.
The Cavs already have a logjam in the backcourt with Sexton and Porter the likely starters, with Garland needing minutes to develop, and don’t forget Dante Exum, a bigger guard who was the fifth overall pick in 2014, and will be only 25 years old when the next season opens, provided it opens before next June.
Don’t panic about Altman’s comments, because they are purely rhetoric, draft speak. It would be a shock if he took another guard in this draft. More likely, they will take a big man or a taller wing player.
That makes the most sense.
Cleveland Sports Perspective 